MEETING AT THE TEMPERANCE HALL.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume VIII, Issue 690, 11 February 1879, Page 3

MEETING AT THE TEMPERANCE HALL.

THE RACE COURSE AND RECREA-

TION GROUND.

A Pdbmc Meeting, convened by Captain Morris, M*H.K, was held at the Temperance Hall on Saturday evening, for the purpose of hearing a statement as to the present position of the racecourse, and of electing trustees for its management. . On the proposition of Mr Redmond, Mr Wm. Kelly was elected to the chair, Mr M. J. Matthews being appointed Secretary.

After a few remarks from the Chairman, Captain Morris addressed the meeting, saying i— When I wag in Wellington session before hist, I receiyed> list of reserves, from which! learnt' that our racecgurse .reserve' had been illegally • made, and could, not be vested In Trustees. I moved iu.Jihe matter immediately, but nothing w^ ; done, though there was a deal of talk on the subject, in which Mr Stout took an active part. Last session. I -.again-, brought 'it '{forward, but met with- strong opposition 'from the GovernmenVand was" told r that the reserve could not be, gazetted as a racecourse reserve, : but that it could be as a racecourse and | recreation ground reserve. As I could see that unless something was 4one at once we should not, get .the reserve at all, I went to Mr Sheehan, and asked, him to have it gazetted as a racecourse and recreation ground . reserve, which he said should be done.inimediately'.. It was necessary, however, that trustees, should be appointed, and thinking it. best 'to strike^ while the iron was hot, I submitted five names. • .The reserve Was to have been gazetted the next day, but a- letter was received 1 from the Under Secretary of Native Lands;" saying that at apublio meeting held in Taurauga five trustees had been elected, and that they were not the same gentlemen as those I had mentioned, As the gentlemen named were not those I would have myself supported, I thought it better that the matter should be held' 6v&t' totiri could call a public meeting, and I have taken great pains to make this meeting public. An advertisement has appeared in the Bay of Plenty Times of ithe last two or three issuee, and I am sorry ,to see so poor an attendance .here, to-night. iThis subject is one of the utmosfcimportance ito.iajl^he.i inhabitants^ of the distriot. The .'gentlemen - Reported . toihave i been .' elected y$e f .l- jf;"''I ■; ' remember 'corteclly,' Messrs 'Fr&kf', #.' D, .^ngle^ Sldgßumbei'Eliis, and idh^nek, 6?s tbte naipes I submitted werej Captain Ttokerviu Captain; Clarke, Messrs: idhffldwiek,! tford&fky ! ; and Asher. The reason !r seiekeo* 'thea'e' wai^nat 'they; represent the ' wholes district and |bhe]4ifferenii. selections of ithe district. First, Mr Chadwick, because !he has had a good deal of experience in public [matters, Captain Clarke, because he seemed ;to be the connecting link between us and the JKatikati settlers, Mr R. C. Jordan, because Ihe is a sound practical man, and one who ; could do any surveying that was necessary, and who would, I suppose, do it for nothing, Captain Turner, because he is well known to be one of the ; be^t men in the district, and MrA?ter|.lje<!ause lie has -worked so energetically and untiringly throughout all our meetings. .1 would now submit these names to you. '.The Government will, be guided by this meeting, and gazette those gentlemen who are appointed. It will then be for the fooksv. Club to arrange what is to be done, estimate, that tne suin-ur »uw mv uo necessary : to put the racecourse in good condition/ arid this sum can only be obtained upon the guarantee of the gentlemen elected, who. will be jointly, and. severally liable. It is to be regretted that all the gentlemen proposed ar6 not'present, as they should be asked if they would stand by this loan. The Secretary will forward ;fco , the Government the names of the^Trustees' elected, and I will tjfyiaelf. write tb the Honl'Mr Sheehan asking h|m Wg^tfthem -gjaze^ted, so that.we, shall hav,e ft jgood-jtit^tg, the reserve. / : Captain Morris, having . sat : down, Mr Rhodes 'rebuested* to T know if he had ascertained whether a, previous public meeting had been held. Captain: Morris:: ' N0,.; I :have< purposely .avoided ciekhig)anyone;-,becausß' I' did not wan,t 1(d haye 1 a' /prtogi'afmnie prepared before the meeting. It is .left to this meeting to ' decide what is tolbe done, Mr Fraser : I, have one proposition to make before the trustee^; are elected,, and that is that they must -be prepared to give security for a 1 loan, in order that the racecourse may be sown in ' grass and fenced, which would enable us to realise ten or fifteen per cent on the amount/ invested. . I should be very sorry to see mett go in' who would afterwards be/frightened of - jthe ' positiou they had undertaken. . After; some little discussion as to the number oi trustees, and the manner in which ,they should be elected, \t was resolved that the number should be five, and eventually the following gentlemen were proposed : — Mrßodell, Captain Clarke, Captain Ellis, ' Captain Morris, ■ Captain Turner, Messrs J. A. Chadwick, D. ] Asher, J. C. Young, R. C. JoTdan, Allan, Buckworth and Fraser. A show of hands was given for each gentlemen, the following being elected : — Captain Turner, Captain Morris,. M.H.R., Captain Clarke, Mr Fraser, and Mr Chadwick.

A hearty vote of thanks having been accorded to Captain Morris, M.H.R. and the Chairman, tho proceedings terminated.